Polling Anonymously

Dissatisfaction with whichever party is currently in control of the government or with whoever the President happens to be is nothing new. There have been those who have hated Presidents (past and present) from the day they won the election to the day they left office but what differentiates these folks from some of the type that are getting increased media attention these days is that they didn't seem to get as much press coverage considering their violent and out-of-touch accusations. Take for example the latest individual who anonymously posted a poll on Facebook which asked the question, "Should Obama be killed?" The choices of responses include: yes, maybe, if he cuts my healthcare, and no. Now the wonderful thing about our country is that we have the freedom to post these types of polls and say what we wish or express our dissatisfaction with our government (which after all is what led to our fight for independence from England) but there are limits to what should be said.

Now already there have been arguments stating that similar polls or queries were made regarding President Bush. Perhaps now that there is so much more media coverage and that there is increased awareness of potential threats that some of these types of polls are gaining added noteriety but still, I don't ever recall so much being directed towards a President in recent years. Certainly there were the nuts who did call for Bush's assassination or took pot shots at the White House (like the one guy who opened fire on the White House while Bush and his family were in residence) but no one can make the argument that it's one side doing more than the other. I mean even during Clinton's Presidency a suicidal man flew a single engine private plane into the White House in an action that was eeriely reminsicent of the attacks on 9/11. And certainly there were those who have called for the impeachment of any President due to the fact that he's a member of the opposition but calls for assassination being publicized like this are not so common and with good reason.

I keep saying that one of the negative aspects of sites like Facebook and the like is that they offer you the opportunity to live an anonymous and false persona without need to reveal your true name and identity. You can create a completely false profile on Facebook or similar sites and not at all have to prove that it's really you. People will argue that if needed the Secret Service or FBI would be able to find out who you were and where you were if you made credible threats against the President but with so many leads to follow in terms of these threats its difficult to get a rein on all of them. I'm sure with regard to this Facebook poll on Obama (which was taken down almost immediately after Facebook was made aware of it) that it was created by some pimply faced kid who has an axe to grind but that doesn't justify or condone doing it.

If we as a society want to be seen as being better than some of the nation's that we seek to inspire through our democracy or liberate from their so-called tyrannical ways then we need to set an example. There are the occasional outspoken zealots who come out publicly and call for the President's death like Reverend Anderson from Arizona but the majority of them are introverted cowards who only seek to use the internet as their means of communicating and spreading their messages of hate and anger. By creating false or misleading or completely ambiguous identities on the internet they have the power of being anonymous and speaking like a pundit. But take that security blanket away and see how quickly this bold political statement and protest will die down.